We also told you we were down with that — Love improved his shooting percentage from all over the court, his rebounding percentage and the consistency of his effort. Coach Kurt Rambis (who was not at the ceremony) had Love as a sixth man at the end of last season and seemed uncomfortable giving him big minutes this season, but in the end he had no choice. Love was too good to sit.

In his remarks accepting the award Thursday, Love made the point that he really won the award in the summer. That is when he went on an intense conditioning program and worked on aspects of his game. Then he became part of Team USA, which won the gold medal at the FIBA World Championships. He credited all of that work with getting him on the podium

Which is to say, whoever next year’s Most Improved Player will be, they are in the gym while you read this. The MIP award is won in the offseason.

Love won the vote handily with 400 points and 66 first place votes from the 116 sports writers who participated. Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge was second (157 points, 11 first-place votes) and Golden State’s Dorell Wright (124 points, 16 first-place votes) was third.

Derrick Rose was fourth. My guess is he’s going to get over that when he wins another award in a couple weeks.